Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Third Alarm Fire in San Jose East Foothills

Wednesday, December 9, 2008 – San Jose Firefighters responded to several reports of a house fire at 1088 Wheat Court in the east foothills of San Jose. Engine 21 Captain, Eric Hernandez reported heavy smoke visible from the station. Upon arrival Engine 21 was confronted with a fully involved two story single family residence and immediately requested a second alarm. Incident Commander, Battalion Chief Ivan Lee, requested a third alarm shortly thereafter. Due to reports of someone trapped inside the home, Firefighters went into rescue mode and made an aggressive offensive attack on the fire. Firefighters deployed multiple attack lines through the front door and battled extreme heat before getting driven back by untenable conditions. Fortunately, there was no one in the structure. One Firefighter suffered non-life threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital for treatment and further evaluation.

The Fire Associates of Santa Clara Valley responded to the incident and provided San Jose Firefighters with nutritional support including, water, sports drinks, energy bars, and coffee. The incident was reported under control at 17:30 hours. Preliminary damage estimate is $500,000. Fire Cause Investigators were on scene conducting interviews and have yet to determine the cause of the fire.

Posted by: CA Alberto Olmos, SJFD, PIO

Monday, December 01, 2008

Congratulations!
2008 San Jose Fire Department
Firefighter Recruit Class

Congratulations to the new San Jose Fire Deparment Recruit Class of 2008! They have just graduated from the 18 week fire academy on November 13, 2008 at city hall council chambers. 24 new firefighters will hit the streets and their new assignments on Monday the 17th. Oh by the way they are all paramedics too. Good Luck!!

The Graduation was filled with cheers from the audience as the program proceeded. The ceremony was hosted by Captain Colleen Mulholand. Featured guests were Father Stout, Mayor Chuck Reed, Fire Chief Darryl Von Raesfeld, and Battalion Chief Phil Croyle.

They all separately spoke about the hard work and dedication during the training as well as their future as San Jose Firefighters. All of the new Firefighters had family and friends pin on their new badges. The ceremonial fire helmet presentation followed in the City Hall Rotunda.



Posted by: CA Scott Kouns, E34B